Kansas City Star announces promotions of two new managing editors

Two editors from within The Kansas City Star’s newsroom will become the 145-year-old media organization’s new managing editors.

Hannah Wise and Ian Cummings have been promoted to the second-highest management roles at The Star following the promotion of Greg Farmer to McClatchy’s executive vice president of local news and Andale Gross to The Star’s executive editor.

Cummings, previously the assistant managing editor for breaking news and accountability, has been with the paper for 10 years. Wise, with The Star since 2021, has most recently served as the assistant managing editor for engagement and experimentation.

“I am excited to help lead The Star and carry forth its commitment to produce local journalism that reflects our community’s needs. Kansas City is my chosen home, and I am honored to be part of a newsroom that is dedicated to telling stories for and by Kansas Citians,” Wise said.

“Star journalists are creative, tenacious and deeply committed to helping our readers continue to make Kansas City an even better place to live.”

Both journalists have long-standing ties to the region. Cummings is a Kansas City native, and Wise comes from Wichita. Both are graduates of the University of Kansas.

“I’m grateful for this new opportunity to serve my hometown paper,” Cummings said. “The Star’s mission has never been more important, and I’m excited about working with our newsroom to bring Kansas City readers the very best journalism.”

Gross said he is excited to see the two journalists take on greater leadership roles in the organization.

“I’ve watched both of them work hard every day to make The Star better by leaning into their individual strengths, but also partnering with each other and collaborating with colleagues across the newsroom,” Gross said. “Together, they provide an impressive balance of journalism and digital skills that will help us continue to move our organization forward at a pivotal time for local news.”

Cummings graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 2012. He worked at newspapers in Lawrence and in Sarasota, Florida, before joining The Star as a breaking news reporter in 2015.

As an editor at The Star, Cummings has worked with reporters in breaking news, local government accountability, politics, investigations and service journalism, among others.

Cummings has led The Star’s efforts in creating journalism for our community and developing AI reporting tools, including one that searches court documents and another that tracks the criminal records of Kansas City firefighters.

Last month, Star journalists were awarded the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism by the Missouri Press Association for the “Reckless Pursuit” series on police chases that Cummings edited.

Wise previously worked at The New York Times and The Dallas Morning News. She was part of The News’ team that was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news and The Times’ team awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for public service.

She holds degrees in journalism from the University of Kansas and the University of North Texas.

At The Star, she has led multiple community listening projects that helped inform new approaches to local government coverage, quick-turn accountability, and journalism around arts, entertainment and culture.

In addition, she has led innovative projects surrounding Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the 2024 Super Bowl and more. Subscribers may recognize her from tech support and other events across the KC area.

This story was originally published October 9, 2025 at 1:47 PM.